US, Ukraine, NATO reject Putin's peace bid

The United States, Ukraine and NATO have rejected conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine imposed on Friday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he would stop the attack in Ukraine provided Kiev withdraws from the alleged territories of Moscow and gives up efforts to join NATO.

“Putin has occupied, illegally occupied, Ukrainian sovereign territory. He is in no position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring peace”, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the end of a NATO meeting in Brussels, writes VOA.

He can end this today if he decides to do that, and we call on him to do so and leave Ukrainian sovereign territory”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the proposal, which he named “a Putin ultimatum to deliver more territory”.

Mr. Putin said his proposal aims at <x0 final resolution” for the conflict in Ukraine, rather than its “integration” and stressed that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay”.

“We would take these steps immediately”, Putin said in a speech to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

Putin made these statements at a time that leaders of the 7 most industrialized countries met in Italy, and as Switzerland prepares to host many world leaders, but not from Russia, at a meeting where it will be discussed first steps towards peace in Ukraine.

Among other things, in terms of peace settlement, the Russian leader listed the request that Kiev have no nuclear weapons, limit the military force and protect the interests of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.

All these must be part of the key <x0) international agreements” and all Western sanctions against Russia must be lifted, Putin said.

“We are calling to leave behind this tragic period of history and to restore, step-by-step unity between Russia and Ukraine and Europe in general”, he said.

These comments marked a rare case in which Putin clearly outlined his conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, but do not include any new demands. The Kremlin has said earlier that Kiev must recognise Moscow's control over territory and give up its goal of NATO membership.

President Zelensky, who is in Italy for the G7 meeting, said Putin's proposal was not a new proposal and was made in the form of <x0ulmateum”. “What Putin wants is to give him a share of our territories, occupied and unintended, talking about some regions of our country,” he said.

In addition to NATO membership, Ukraine wants Russian forces to leave its territory, including the Crimea that was illegally annexed in 2014, the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and for Russia to be held responsible for war crimes.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that Mr. Putin “has illegally occupied Ukraine's sovereign territory. He is not in position to dictate to Ukraine what to do about restoring peace.

Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg added that “ky is not a peace proposal. This is a proposal for more aggression, more invasion, and in some ways shows that Russia's goal is to control Ukraine”.

Russia does not fully control any of the four regions it illegally annexed in 2022, but Mr. Putin insisted on Friday that Kiev should withdraw fully from them and essentially hand over Moscow under their administrative borders.

In Zaporizhja in the southeast, Russia still does not control the region's centre with 700,000 inhabitants, and in the nearby region of Kherson, Moscow withdrew from its largest city, by the same name, in November 2022.

/Euronews Albania/